Virtuous Judgments
by FanfictionByFreud
Summary: The story of the illegitimate son of Dr Crusher and Jean Luc Picard and his adventurous life aboard the USS Enterprise.
1. Chapter 1

**Virtuous Judgments Chapter 1**

Oliver Crusher had been sitting in med bay for the past hour with a bloody nose and a black eye watching his mother run back and forth between other patients. He knew that none of them had any serious injuries and that his mother needed only to press a button on one of the various medical devices and he could get out of there and back to being a 13 year old. Oliver also knew that his mother wouldn't give him the satisfaction of escaping without a lecture about getting into fights. Oliver knew that neither his mother nor father would approve of his fighting under any circumstances. Finally Dr. Crusher finished up with her last patient and approached Oliver. "What was it this time, Oliver?" she asked slightly exasperated at yet another instance of his apparent delinquency.

Oliver was staring at his feet now fairly ashamed of himself. "They called me baldy and I-" Just as he began to plead his case his mother interrupted him.

"You just have to ignore them Oliver. You know that you can't just solve your problems with your fists. " Oliver could tell that his mother had entered lecture mode; by now he had learned how to subconsciously respond to his mother while ignoring the lecture entirely. Rather than listen to his mother rant at him Oliver began to sulk about his poor luck having inherited his father's extreme lack of hair. Everyone at school made fun of him even though he was the captain's son. It was obvious to everyone that he had been illegitimately born, as if that didn't make him enough of a target for mockers. On top of everything between his parents, his half brother being incredibly disliked and effeminate, and his bald scalp it seemed like everyone picked on Oliver; everyone but his one friend, Alexander. His mother's endless droning was almost palpable to Oliver now meaning that she was wrapping up.

"-I hope you're going to ignore those students from now on. Your father and I love you too much to let you turn up like…well, like your brother."

Oliver nodded and saw his mother sigh, as if she knew that he hadn't heard a word of her sermon. "Can I go now?" He asked expectantly.

His mother sighed again exhausted, "yes you can go". Oliver was out the door before his mother could even finish her sentence. She couldn't know for sure but Dr. Crusher expected she would be seeing Oliver again shortly.

She often worried about him being bullied too much.

"At least that kid will grow up into a man."


	2. Chapter 2

Virtuous Judgments Chapter 2

On his way to his room Oliver ran into his good friend Alexander. Alexander was the only child Oliver knew who wouldn't make fun of him; they shared a lot in common. Often Alexander and his Klingon friend would be caught getting into trouble and getting each other out of trouble. "What happened after I left?" Oliver asked with a smug grin on his face.

"That _bIHnuch _Joel ran off with his tail between his legs." Laughed Alexander.

Joel was the average school bully. Low intelligence, large frame and thought he was much tougher than he was. Had Joel been more intelligent an hour earlier and not thrown careless insults concerning Oliver's very early baldness, Oliver wouldn't have been so inclined as to start a fight that despite a bloody nose Oliver undisputedly won.

"It figures" Oliver said in a chuckle. He nodded to himself, feeling a pang of hurt at recalling the bully's insults, but quickly recovered and continued bragging about his encounter. "I'm surprised he even had the guts to hit me back."

"Who did you hit?" came a deep commanding voice from behind the two adolescence that they both instantly recognized to belong to their captain and Oliver's father, Jean Luc Picard. The boys slowly turned to meet the stern glare of Oliver's father.

"Oh, um, hey dad" Oliver stumbled as he greeted his father still a bit surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Alexander," Picard turned his glare to the young Klingon boy, "would you mind leaving my son and I to talk."

Alexander didn't waste a second, "yes sir." He replied militantly, and then turning to his undoubtedly doomed friend Alexander uttered a meek, "see ya".

"Yeah right," thought Oliver, "if my dad doesn't kill me first." Oliver's mind swarmed with excuses and lies to tell his father but he knew that eventually his mother would tell him the truth, if she hadn't already. Instead Oliver waited for his dad to speak.

They were standing in one of the narrow corridors of the U.S.S Enterprise, almost taking up its entire width. Picard looked at his son who was staring at his shoes in obvious anticipation of a painful lecture. It was apparent that Beverly had recently taken care of the lecture so Picard decided to break the awkward silence that hung in the air. His expression softened as he remembered the struggles he had experienced in his own childhood. "Come with me." He said in a deep comforting voice.

Oliver was surprised at his father's suddenly ephemeral expressions. "Where are we going?" he asked his father running a few steps to catch up to the much taller Star Fleet officer.

"I thought you might be in the mood for a break in the Holodeck." Picard said very matter of factly.

Suddenly Oliver forgot any anxiety; he knew his father could be both intimidating and incredibly kind. "You know I'll beat you if we play handball again", replied Oliver confidently.

"We'll see about that" his father quipped back playfully.


	3. Chapter 3

Laughter bellowed forth as the door to the holo-deck opened for Oliver and his father. The two were perspiring heavily and enjoying each other's company as only a father and son could, "I told you I'd beat you" laughed Oliver.

Before Jean Luc could respond an explosion rocked the entire Enterprise nearly throwing the two off their feet. The recognizable alarm began to sound loudly as the all too familiar red flashing signaled an imminent emergency on the bridge. Almost instantly Picard's communicator bleeped as Commander William Riker's voice came across the device, "Sir, we have been fired upon by a cloaked vessel, and now you are being hailed by name!" The commander sounded nervous. Although the Enterprise was a very famous ship with an equally famous captain it was disturbing for any enemy to know the captain by name when he didn't even know his new enemy's race.

"I'm on my way now" Picard replied calmly but sternly to his first officer. Then turning to his worried son and softening his worried expression a little he comforted, "don't worry, everything will be fine." Then he turned and ran towards the bridge.

Oliver was slightly comforted by his dad's optimism and by his dad's past success at avoiding unnecessary conflicts. Something had Oliver worried though, something felt ominous about the situation and he intended to find out as much as he could. Access to the bridge was limited to very few especially during a red-alert so Oliver knew he would have to head to the engine room. If anyone could help him figure out what was going on it would be his brother Wesley. As he ran past several panicking crewmen and civilians Oliver saw Alexander, "Hey!" he yelled, "Alexander! Come with me I'm going to find out what's going on." The young Klingon nodded in agreement and they both ran off to the engine room. Something bad was happening and Oliver was going to find out what it was.

(Thanks to my fans for your encouragement and sorry for the delay in posts.)


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